With the push of a button, The Rosenberg Algorithmic Music Generator, a software program by Mick Sussman, creates a unique piece of music, making thousands of decisions based on a sequence of randomized processes.
The resulting compositions – mesmeric, microtonal, rhythmically intricate, seemingly purposeful and surprisingly varied – demonstrate the potential of partially automated creativity. Rosenberg is freakishly prolific: it can crank out music as fast as a human can process it, 40 hours and counting.
Though Rosenberg acts as a conceptual provocation, its primary purpose is to make enjoyable music. Embracing many genres and defying all labels, these pieces have echoes of post-classical and jazz mavericks like Harry Partch and Ornette Coleman; electronic experimentalists like Laurie Spiegel and Tyondai Braxton; global sources like gamelan and Afropop; and hints of everything from Dixieland jazz to psychedelic rock. This is postmodern art music. It’s a distinctive sound that may seem perplexing at first, but is surprisingly approachable when you get to know it.
The Sublunar Society has begun digitally releasing a single a day from Rosenberg’s earliest output. This art project will continue for 365 days...
Sublunar also releases a digital album: The Rosenberg Algorithmic Music Generator: Selected Works. These pieces were generated after the 365 first...